Winking Eyes of Rhauron
The Winking Eyes of Rhauron is a set of cursed magical gems, designed to enchant those who claim them with a compulsion to find and assassinate an individual. Their intent was to make an individual a thrall of a thrallherd psion. They appear as a translucent, clear, and faceted gem of unusually large size, although they appear as a variety of gems, such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds or diamonds. Under the article they were introduced, they're expected to be created by an enchanter with the alias of Rhauron, and chosen victime are likely to be targets that have wronged the creator in the past. Function When held bare handed for "too long" (the exact duration varies), the gem activates with a flash of light. Unless dropped or flung quickly, the gem melts into the hand. The melding process gives a sensation of momentary falling, a purple-blue tinge around the edges of vision, and a face of a given individual (possibly an unfamiliar face). If the contact is too brief, only the tinge and face are shown, but the victem is otherwise unaffected. The mental image persists, keeping the victim aware of the target but not being intrusive. Persistance The curse is persistant. After the first melding, the victim makes a saving throw with -4 penalty. On a success, no further effects aside from one more vision of the face during an idle moment on the following day. The visions end if the curse is removed with the Remove Affliction ritual, until the target of the quarry perishes (regardless of method), the victim is killed, or a successful saving throw shakes off the effects. On a failure, the face will genearally be shown once per day. After four days, the vision is accompanied by an urgent feeling to go to this person. On the eigthth day, the vision shows the abode or location of the face's owner. The twelth day have the vision "zoom out" to display the body along with the abode or location before fading. Every four days thereafter will show additional information, showing how the owner is travelling if on the move, or more views of where the owner can be if he remains in his place. Later visions show more specifics, such as defenses, necessary door keys or badges, or magical equipment and treasure to assist with the killing. Direct control In some cases, the gem will need to take direct control over the subject. The first attempt is at a -3 penalty, and subsequent attempts add a cumulative +1 modifier on each attempt. In gneral, the gem will make an attempt to control the victim when he spends one month without attempting to track down the target, or are in proximity. The controller will then direct it in an assassination attempt to make sure the target is slain and desroyed beyond recovery. If there is little chance of attacking the target long enough to make a kill, the chracter will be direted to retreat. The direct control lasts until a successful temporary retreat, or a first strike at the target. After this, the victim is allowed a second saving throw, where failure causes the assassination attempt to continue until the target manages to escape the immediate area. If the thrall is forced to persue, the thrall gets yet another saving throw (but not if the thrall is ordered to retreat temporarly.) Category:Forgotten Realms Category:Cursed items Category:Magic items